T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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tim e in Rev. 19:1. Coronation is now sung for the first time. All previous singing is in the n atu re of a rehearsal. The royal diadem is the symbol of sovereignty. P rio r to th is time, it is on th e head of th e beast. Rev. 13: l- John 16:30; 2 Cor. 4:4. The golden crown of Rev. 14:14 is th e victor’s lau rel w reath. Christ wears th a t today. When the diadem is tran sferred from the head of the beast to the brow of th e Lamb, creation becomes vocal and jub ilan t. The kingdoms of th is world become th e kingdom of our God and his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. He is Lord of lords and King of kings. The h allelu jah chorus swells in volume and fills th e vaulted arch of the skies. Beside th is white horse R ider rides His heavenly bride and royal consort, arrayed in fine linen clean and white which is the righteousness of th e saints. The heavenly nup tials are about to be celebrated. She sits w ith H im upon His throne. Rev. 3:21, and shares th e adm in istration of His august celestial empire. He now sees of the trav a il of his soul and is satisfied. Jesus m arked his public induction into his Messianic m inistry. It was signalized by a most unique and wonderful event. The heavens were opened and for th e first tim e in hum an histo ry th e th ree P er sons of th e Godhead became a t the same tim e m anifest to m ortal sense. The F a th e r was audible, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” The Son was tangible. He was baptized by John the Baptist. 1 Ji.li The Holy Spirit was visible in the form of the heavenly dove. These th ree m anifestations make a three-fold cord no t easily broken. A fter th irty sil e n t uneventful years, th e Master left the carpen ter shop behind Him forever and sough t the banks of the sw iftly flowing Jo rd an and the m inistry of John the Baptist. It is significant th a t th e stamp of Divine approval was placed upon these years when the Son was waiting in p atien t passive obedience th e F a th e r’s will. The same approval was expressed on the Mount of Transfigura- %St£ th e m idst of H is abounding public m inistry. W hether active or passive th e Son was equally pleasing to the F ath er. When Noah sent fo rth the dove from the ark , th e bird flew over th e tossing w aters of the flood seeking MONDAY, Ju ly 7. Mark 1:1-11. The Baptism of Jesus. The baptism
for a place to perch in vain and came back to the a rk for shelter. The heavenly dove had been hovering over hum anity for ages since creation and had found no resting place un til th a t day when upon the head of the stain less Nazarene, she folded her silver wings. TUESDAY, Ju ly 8. Matt. 13:13-17. Fulfilling A ll R ighteousness. When Jesus presented H imself to John th e B aptist as a candidate for bap tism, John protested, saying th a t it would be more fitting th a t Jesus should baptize him. Jesus insisted and John complied. Why was Jesus baptized? The baptism of John was th e baptism of repentance for th e rem ission of sins. Jesus could no t rep en t because He did no sin n eith er was guile found in His mouth. He was holy, harm less unde filed, separate from sinners. It seemed to be superfluous if no t unseemly th a t He should be baptized a t all. It was the beginning of His public m inistry and His first act of identification w ith the race He came to save. He claimed no exemption. He was compassed about w ith infirmity. He sounded the depths of all hum an experience. He was made in all respects like unto His brethren. It was a royal and a gracious .act of condescension. This identifica tion w ith lost hum anity continued th roughou t His earth ly life and cul m inated upon Calvary where He met th e sinn er’s doom and poured out His soul unto death in expiation for the sins of men. WEDNESDAY, Ju ly 9. Acts 2:37-41. The Baptized Believers. The convicting power of the Holy Spirit accompanied th e preaching of th e Gospel on the day of Pentecost and those who heard cried out “W hat shall we do?” They were told to repen t and to be baptized. The only pre-requisite to baptism is belief and the only pre lim inary to belief is repentance. F aith and repentance are th e obverse and reverse sides of the same experience. Repentance is tu rn ing from sin and faith is tu rn in g to God. Both together comprise conversion which is tu rn ing around. Baptism is ,th e badge of dis- cipleship and in itiato ry rite of adm is sion into the local church. It is the outw ard sign of an inw ard grace and is meaningless unless th a t which it signifies has already taken place w ithin th e soul. It is inconceivable th a t an outw ard ceremonial act should be pro-
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